Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1953, Page 216

The maternity death rate 1953 was
0.5 per 1000 children born. The di-
stribution of maternal deaths is
shown on p. 67.
13. Artificial Abortion (cf. table
XII).
During the year 73 artificial abor-
tions took place under the Birth Con-
trol Act, which came into operation
in 1935 (in the preceding year the
number had been 67). In 28 out of
these 73 cases social as well as medi-
cal indications had been taken into
consideration.
14. Accidents. The figure of deaths
by accidents (including suicide) is
0.68 per 1000 of the whole popula-
tion.
1949 1950 1951 1952 1953
Deaths by Suicide 16 17 18 17 12
Deaths by
other Violence 59 92 92 71 90
The distribution of deaths by acci-
dents is shown on pp. 68—69.
15. Care of Infants may be said to
be fairly good, the great majority of
the children being breast-fed. The
midwives have made out a report
(table XIII) concerning 4269 infants
born during the year. Reports on the
nutrition of infants were submitted
in 4145 caces which accordingly were
grouped as follows (Reykjavík figures
in brackets):
Breast-fed ....... 93.7 p.c. (98.9 p.c.)
Breast-
and bottle-fed 3.3 — (0.2 — )
Bottle-fed only . 3.0 — ( 0.9 — )
16. Health Officials and Auxiliary
Personel (cf. table I). The total num-
ber of licensed medical men in Iceland
was 194 in 1953. There are 51 medical
districts. The number of midwives
holding appointments is 150 while
the number of districts is about 200.
Trained nurses do Jittle service out-
side hospitals and institutions. Den-
tists are very few (35 in the whole
country). Trained dispensing chemists
are only in the larger towns, in vil-
lages and in the country the district
medical officers have a small drug
store.
17. General Insurance. The National
Insurance Act from 1936 (amended
several times) covers besides disea-
ses: accident, disablement and old
age insurance, sickness insurance
being obligatory for the whole coun-
try since 1 October 1951.
At the end of the year 93369 per-
sons were registered insured under
the National Insurance Act, organi-
sed in 225 sickness-benefit societies,
children under 16 years being insured
with their parents or foster-parents.
18. Food and Nutrition. Public in-
spection of food has taken place in
this country since 1936, when the
Food Adulteration Act came into
force. This Act provides for com-
prehensive control of all articles of
food and other nutritients. This in-
spection is in the hands of the dist-
rict medical officers of health and the
sanitary committees, in co-operation
with the local police authorities. The
chemical analysis work is done at the
public Chemical Analysis Institute in
Reykjavik; 61 samples of food (milk
and milk products excepted) were
submitted for analysis in 1953, out of
which number 11 were found to be
not up to the standards (18.0 per
cent).
19. Hospitals, large and small, in
1953 numbered 48 in the whole coun-
trv, with 1519 beds, or 10 beds per
1000 inhabitants, 42 of this number
being general hospitals, with 938 beds
(6.2 per 1000). In the tuberculosis
sanatoria there are 257 beds (about
1.7 per 1000). Of other special ho-
spitals may be mentioned: 1 lunatic
asylum, 1 leprosarium and 1 small